


Let It Be

by luciusmistress



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Drunkenness, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-08
Updated: 2010-05-08
Packaged: 2017-10-15 03:17:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/156482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luciusmistress/pseuds/luciusmistress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ron's day has not gone as planned. Luckily, Luna turns up to pick up the pieces...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let It Be

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://bendleshnitz1.livejournal.com/profile)[**bendleshnitz1**](http://bendleshnitz1.livejournal.com/) for the song guessing meme. She asked for Ron/Luna, with any of the song snippets used as prompt. Of course I had to go with Beatles: "When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me / Speaking words of wisdom: let it be..." :) Ron's views on family are inspired by [this essay](http://www.redhen-publications.com/WizFeminism.html). (While I don't agree with the writer on everything, I still heartily recommend visiting the site! It's full of very well written essays on the Wizarding World that offer great food for thought.)

Let It Be

Ron stared into his glass, his face a picture of misery. Bloody Hermione! This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life, but no. 'I don't have time for that now, Ron, I have my career to think about.' What the fuck was that supposed to mean? You fell in love, you got married and had kids. That was how it worked, goddamit! There was no call for Hermione to start yelling about outdated misogynistic pure-blood traditions. Whatever the fuck that meant.

A dreamy voice interrupted his glum thoughts. "Hello, Ronald. Having a bad day?"

Ron looked up from his Firewhisky. Loony Lovegood was standing next to his stool, holding a rainbow-coloured drink and staring at him intently. Great, just what he needed. A failed proposal and Loony in one day. Not that he didn't usually like her, but she was a lot to take on the best of days. Realising he wasn't being fair, Ron attempted a smile. It wasn't her fault his day had gone shitty. "Hi, Luna," he muttered.

She sat on a stool next to him, clearly undeterred by his less that enthusiastic greeting. "You can tell me about it, you know," she said seriously. "I'm a good listener."

Ron opened his mouth to tell her to bugger off and mind her own business, but her look of intense concentration stopped him. He wasn't used to having someone's undivided attention, and he was finding that he rather liked the experience. "It's Hermione," he heard himself say instead. "We– I think we broke up today."

Luna's eyes widened slightly, but she offered none of the usual platitudes Ron had been half expecting. In the absence of interruptions, he found himself pouring out the whole story to her. He had thought that he and Hermione ought to get married already. They had known each other since forever, after all. He had bought her champagne and roses and got on one knee and everything. And she had laughed at him. Laughed!

At that point, Luna made a little "tsk, tsk" noise that encouraged Ron to really start ranting.

Hermione hadn't taken him seriously at all. She had just said that they were too young to be thinking about anything like that. He had tried and tried to explain that that was how things were done; you got married young, had as many kids as you could, and when they were old enough to look after themselves you could have all the career you wanted. It wasn't as though you'd drop dead at seventy, like some Muggle.

Luna winced a bit, and Ron had to admit that, in retrospect, that had not been the smartest thing to say. It was just difficult to remember, sometimes, that Hermione had been raised by Muggles. But she still didn't have to overreact like that; she had started yelling about prejudiced pure-bloods and he had lost it and yelled back and finally he had just left, saying something stupid about not coming back. And here he was, now, in the Leaky Cauldron, with nowhere to go, drinking his fifth Firewhisky.

Luna let him finish without interrupting him once. That was a novel experience for Ron; usually he only got started on what he wanted to say before his mum, Ginny, George or, lately, Hermione, decided that they had something much more interesting to say. Only when it was clear that Ron had got it all out of his system, Luna patted his hand clumsily. "It sounds to me like it was all just a cultural misunderstanding, really. You have to remember that she comes from a very different world."

Ron shook her hand away irritably. 'Very different'? That was a bit rich, coming from Luna Lovegood of all people! "I know it was a cultural whatever!" he snapped and downed his almost forgotten drink in one big gulp. "She still didn't have to bloody laugh at me, did she?"

"No, I suppose she should not have done that," Luna conceded, her rational tone strangely soothing. "But there is no real damage done, yet. If you want to go and make up with her, I'm sure you can. But I think you should do so now, before you're too drunk." She looked at Ron's empty glass pointedly.

Ron just stared at her, completely at a loss. "You're saying I should go and apologise to her? After she blatantly ruined my romantic evening? Are you mental?"

Luna smirked, looking much more normal than usually. A sudden surge of affection for her coursed through Ron, or maybe it was just the Firewhisky. "Actually, a lot of people seem to think I am. But I'm not telling you what to do; I'm asking you what you want to do."

"Um," Ron managed. He hadn't thought about what he wanted, yet. He had only complained and felt sorry for himself, and now Luna was suddenly making him decide things he had never thought he would have to even think about. Did he want to go back home to Hermione and pretend the fight never happened? Did he want to compromise and compromise and compromise for Hermione's ambitions? It was hard to think with all that Firewhisky blurring his head. Desperately, he turned to Luna. "What do you think I should do?"

"If you're happy with her, you should go," Luna answered seriously. She caught the hesitation in Ron's eyes and continued, "but if you're not happy, I think you should just let it be. It's not like you don't have options." She winked at him, so quick that Ron was not sure if he really saw it.

The Firewhisky giving him confidence, he winked back. "Luna," he asked in his best attempt at a seductive purr, "are you flirting with me?" The second the words were out of his mouth, he wished he could take them back. What if he had totally misread the situation? Luna was his friend and was just giving him friendly advice and now he had spoiled everything... He felt a blush spread over his face.

Luna's smile was like a ray of sunlight brightening up the pub. "Yes, I am," she admitted happily. "How would you like to come home with me?"


End file.
